2012 Vol. XIII, No.

Contents
Mayers Arms of New Hampshire
Lousie Richardson....................................................................................... 3
The Woman on the Border of the Plate
Andrea Evans.............................................................................................. 4
From Eastern Port to Eastern Garden Scene the long way around!
Connie Rogers.............................................................................................. 6
TCC Annual Raffle.............................................................................. 8
Dating Dark Blue American Themed
Prints on Pottery
Pat Halfpenny.......................................................................................... 11
The Plates of the Year
Sue Wagstaff............................................................................................ 14
Grazing Rabbits
Richard Halliday...................................................................................... 15
Henrywoods Highlights: Transferware
from a British Perspective
Dick Henrywood..................................................................................... 18

TCC Bulletin 1

Grazing Rabbits
by Richard Halliday

razing Rabbits is one of

the most recognisable
and, indeed, most soughtafter patterns in the world of
transfer printed pottery. It has
everything that is so prized by
the transferware collector: a
beautiful country landscape,
cottages, flowers, including
a stunning wide and varied
floral border, and, of course,
three rabbits. The cottages
and trees are depicted with a
slight chinoiserie influence,
not uncommon on printed pottery produced between
1810 and 1820. Most people would use 1825 as the date
of introduction of this pattern, but in my opinion, it
is actually slightly earlier. This earlier date is apparent

hile this pattern sadly remains as

maker unknown, there has been
much speculation about the maker over
the years. In older reference books, John
Rogers & Sons of Longport seems to be
a common attribution, but it is never
clear why this is the case. As far as I am
aware, no pieces marked Rogers have
come to light. An un-glazed shard of the
pattern was found during an excavation
on the site of James Keelings factory
in Hanley a few years ago. As a result,
Keeling could well be a possible manufacturer.
Anyone who has seen and handled
multiple pieces of this pattern will understand the differences in quality that
are found. The dinner wares tend to be
a high-quality product, both in terms of
potting and printing. The toilet wares also tend to be of a
high standard, but the mugs and pitchers are often printed
in a darker blue with inferior engraving and are, more
often than not, thickly potted. This could well be because
the pattern was produced by at least two potters, but it
could also have been because the dinner wares (and toilet
wares) were from an earlier period than the thickly potted
mugs and pitchers. My personal opinion is that several
potters, some of which were not producing the finest of
wares, produced this pattern. There was considerable
trading of copper plates between potters at this time, and
since it was prior to the Copyright Act of 1842, designs
were readily and frequently plagiarised and copied. It is

because of the chinoiserie elements as just previously noted.

To illustrate this point further,
pictured is a 9 puzzle jug.
It is a very handsome piece
that has the unusual addition
of yellow enamel on the collar,
foot and nozzles. It is printed
with the Bakers Arms, which
is introduced into the main
pattern on the front of the jug.
The name Richard Turner, and
the place (Stone) are found on
the lower collar, along with the
date 1819. This date of 1819 points to a slightly earlier
date for the pattern than previously believed. I personally feel that the introduction of the pattern could be
earlier still, perhaps 1815.

not inconceivable that this pattern was

produced by up to half a dozen potters
during the early nineteenth century.
Unusual pieces have turned up, too.
We recently bought a 9.75 dinner plate
that was impressed with a star mark and
had the blue-printed word LINAN on
the reverse. Was this possibly a retailers
mark or was it a special-order service
made for a customer named Linan? The
quality and feel of this plate was exactly the same as all of the high-quality
dinner wares that one might find. I feel
that the word or name LINAN is very
important in establishing a firm attribution. Maybe readers of this article will
have more information on this name.
Continued on next page

TCC Bulletin 15

hown next is an 8 Grazing Rabbits pitcher. Unusual is the use of different borders on the neck and
shoulder of this piece. Not only are these borders different from the patterns standard border, but the use of two
different designs on the same piece is also quite uncommon. The shoulder border is a repeating floral pattern that
includes leaves with a saw-like edge and flower heads.
The border around the neck or collar has stylised flowers
and vignettes of chinoiserie scenes. This particular border pattern has been noted before on a Willow pattern
pitcher. The quality of printing and colour is more along
the lines of those seen on the mugs and pitchers, rather
than that the better quality dinner wares. Has anyone else
seen either of these borders before? And if so, what patterns and shapes were they associated with?

his brings me on to the

point of writing a Grazing
Rabbits article: how often do
you see Grazing Rabbits on
teawares? I suspect the answer
will be not very often, or even
never. In the last eighteen
months, we have purchased the
following two items; a squat
creamer and a coffee or chocolate pot, both printed with the
Grazing Rabbits pattern.

16 TCC Bulletin

he creamer is 5.5 long and is definitely too small and the wrong
shape, to be a sauce boat. The coffee
or chocolate pot stands 9 tall. It has
no lid, but is a very distinctive shape.
When viewed from the spout side, it
has a very narrow profile. The body
has moulded panels with arches and
columns that are very architectural in
their design. This pot is a high-quality
piece and the creamer is slightly less
so. Both pieces are unmarked.
Has anyone else seen or does

anyone else own a coffeepot of this

shape with these exact mouldings?
Finding a marked one could lead to
an attribution further down the line?
While this pattern is relatively
uncommon, pieces from dinner ware
and toilet ware do turn up, but tea
wares seem extremely rare. In the last
eighteen years, the above two pieces
are the only two that we have seen or
heard about. Can anyone contribute
further information on Grazing Rabbits?

TCC Bulletin 17